Akeem Smith played defensive tackle at Indiana University of Pennsylvania before graduating last May. He told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 he paid $110 to take part in a combine for the North American Football League, which is planning its inaugural season this spring.

“I’m a football player by heart, and I’m chasing that opportunity,” Smith said. “It seemed very scammy.”

The combine was to be held Sunday at The Club Sport and Health in Monroeville. The club is not affiliated with the league, but the NAFL was supposed to rent a field there for the tryout.

Smith said he and 24 other people, including players from Kentucky and Ohio and some with their families along to cheer them on, noticed no equipment was set up.

“I stayed focused. I listened to some Beethoven before I went in there. I went in there and it was tunnel vision. It was business,” Smith said. “Then when you start looking, it’s like nothing is really ready. So something is suspicious about this.”

Smith said no one from the league was there to explain the situation either, and he received no communications about why the tryout was cancelled.

The NAFL’s president, Christopher White, blamed the problem on a miscommunication.

“Words cannot describe my frustration,” White wrote in a letter to participants in the Pittsburgh combine. “No doubt this is a black-eye for the league, but we are far from a scam.”

White said league officials decided at the last moment to postpone the tryout because of logistical problems, and local representatives were supposed to contact everyone registered for the combine to let them know about the delay.

The Player Personnel rep for the Northeast, who was hired to oversee and run the Pittsburgh combine did not show up (Sunday morning) as instructed. The league office never received any communication from Pittsburgh letting us know otherwise. Had we been informed, the league office could have made other arrangements. This by NO MEANS is an excuse on our part. I personally wanted to relay the facts.

White said the league will refund all of the registration fees and any travel expenses incurred by players. He also said the Pittsburgh repall players had been contacted either by email or phone about getting reimbursed.

Currently the NAFL plans to hold a rescheduled combine on March 29th, and is also considering ways to evaluate players in their hometowns so they don’t have to travel a second time.